A fish tank is a fun thing to have. Fish are cute, colorful and relaxing. Read about the adventures of my little tank gang.

IT all started with me trying to save an abandoned goldfish. I decided it would be a nice addition to my desk at work. Nothing too complicated, or so I thought. I got a two-gallon starter tank and plopped him in. “He needs company,” I thought. So I bought another fish. I dubbed them Killer and Smoochie.

All seemed well, but after a few days, they stopped swimming and eating. A fish disease, appropriately called “ick,” was the culprit. Despite treating the tank with medicine and buying a heater, they passed away to the big fish tank in the sky.

Next, I decided to try tropical fish. The heater would come in handy, since tropical fish like the temperature at around 78 degrees. I chose platys, a cross between a black mollie and a red swordtail. Like guppies, platys are live-bearers – meaning that instead of laying eggs like goldfish, they give birth to baby fish called fry.

Into the tank went three high-fin platys, so named for their prominent top fin and an algae eater. This is a long, skinny fish with a wide mouth for sucking algae off the glass. My co-workers and I enjoyed watching the platys swim around while the algae eater stuck to the side of the tank or rested on one of the live plants.

One day, I found one of my little platy floating sideways – a bad sign. The culprit was the algae eater. I learned that this fish goes through growth spurts, during which time it can become aggressive and attack their tank mates. The platy didn’t stand a chance and neither did the algae eater. Back to the store it went. I replaced it with a catfish.

The male fish became territorial and started fighting. I brought a few girl fish into the mix and the fighting stopped.

One day I peered into the tank and spied an orange pinhead hiding in the foliage. It was a baby platy. As I said earlier, these are live-bearers. I only found six more babies. Most of them, sadly, had been eaten by the other fish. That’s nature for you.

Determined to save them, I put them in a small enclosure called a breeder tank, but now there was too much ammonia in the tank. The result: three dead platys and missing-and-presumed-eaten fry.

One hearty female and the catfish survived. After another big water change and a kit to check Ph levels, three new girls joined the tank.

The next inductee was an apple snail. Snails are hermaphrodites, meaning that they have both male and female sex organs and can reproduce all by themselves. “Just what I need, a tank full of baby snails,” I thought.

The snail proved to be very entertaining – this was the fastest snail I’ve ever seen – moving quickly all over the tank and eating every plant in sight. But he was a bit of a slob. Back to the store he went.

I now seem to have the perfect mix – four female platys and a catfish. They swim, play and eat together. Co-workers visit to sneak a peek and to hear the latest fish tales.

Despite my trials and errors, I am quite happy with my little aquatic crew and recommend that you get your own little tank gang for your classroom or home. But remember, fish are pets just like dogs and cats, and require care to make sure they are happy and healthy.

You can go online to read more about them or ask questions at your local pet shop.